I have a question for all of YOU this week! What do you moms do about all the candy in our society? We have candy-filled holidays, candy rewards in Sunday school, suckers at the bank, and so much more.
In addition, for several years in our home, I have used candy as a treat for my students who get an A on a test or quiz. Now that I’ve started this terrible habit (which they love), how do I replace candy with something not as exciting, such as a sticker? What sorts of things do you use as motivation?
And how do you handle candy in all its forms? I’d love to hear your ideas!
We have a treasure chest in our house that is filled with the toys that come in their fast food meals and maybe soe from the dollar store. When they do a really good job and behave, they may pick out a treasure!
That’s not to say we don’t have candy, but it has reduced how much they get. As it is, if they get any candy each day then it’s just 1 piece- no more.
I have a bucket filled with all types of christian ‘stuff’ I brought at a christian bookstore – there are things like whistles, puzzles, notepads, pens, cars, toys etc. These all have a bible verse on them. I use these for extra special rewards that the children can choose from. For more everyday rewards, I use dried fruit, nuts, marshmallows etc. For example, when I do speech therapy with my youngest child, I fill 12 plastic easter eggs with various items – some may have nuts, some may have sultanas, one or two may be empty, one may have a marshmallow and 3 may have a variety of small items that you can’t eat!!! (wooden block, rubber, etc), therefore I am choosing how much sweet things they are receiving. Another idea is to put in small pieces of lego into the plastic eggs and at the end of the therapy/test ask the child to build something with the lego. These ideas are fun and don’t require too many lollies (sorry, candy!! LOL) (I am in Australia!) Hope this helps. Blessings